The quality on display at the FEI World Championships was high; Adrienne Lyle and Salvino of the USA.

© Roger Fitzhardinge

What we can learn from the Worlds

By Roger Fitzhardinge

Having this year attended the FEI World Championships in Denmark earlier this year, it’s only natural to think about what we can learn from those competing at the elite end of the sport.

The FEI World Championships were simply amazing. The quality and the riding were just so fabulous (not to mention the beautiful horses) and to be part of it was not only rejuvenating, but a real eye opener. Considering what we can learn here in Australia from watching the sport at the highest international level can be productive.

1. More focus on correct basics

If Australians want to become seriously competitive, we need to be more concentrated and dedicated to the simplistic basics of making a dressage horse from the beginning, especially with adjustability through the entire body. It's not about the movements, it's about the control and obedience in an expressive and willing way between the movements that also counts; it is this that allows the horse to perform the movements better! Practising half-passes every day won’t make the half-pass better; it is the ability to control the quality of the trot that will make the half-pass better.

When you get to this level, eyes on the ground are essential – and in fact even more so in the basics early on so that you stay on the highway, not the byway. We need to focus on the basics and not getting to Grand Prix before ticking the capability box – much like jumping and eventing…
 

Read the full article FREE in the November issue of Equestrian Life magazine here.
 

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